Of Nightmares, Family, and Friends
by KeyofNostalgia
Summary: A moment from the Giant War haunts Percy in his dream. He finds that his doubts on his father's love are misplaced and decides that the holiday season needs to be more uplifting for him and his friends. Feeling that being with family would help all of them (even though his friends may not admit it) Percy brings them home with him. After all, friends can be brothers, right?


**I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Heroes of Olympus. They belong to Rick Riordan.**

**This little one-shot may contain spoilers for The House of Hades. However, you probably would not know that they are spoilers until you read the book.**

_I found myself on a battlefield. To be more specific, I was at the place where my friends and I had fought the Giants. I didn't know where my friends were; I was kind of occupied with trying not to be violently killed by Polybotes._

"_Foolish boy," he laughed, "you cannot destroy me without a god at your side. Do you really believe that your father will come?"_

_I rolled out of the way as Polybote's foot tried to flatten me into a Percycake. The serpents from his head hissed and lunged at me, but I slashed them into dust and ducked under a swinging fist. I was so drained of energy that my legs almost collapsed under me. I could feel despair seeping into my heart as my enemy chortled mockingly._

_Polybotes backhanded me into a boulder, and a sharp pain spread through my backside. A trickle of warm blood ran down my face, and my head felt like it was having tiny holes drilled into it. "Dad!" I cried out, sounding like a lost little boy in a grocery store. Polybote's poisonous touch had left acidic burns on my body, and my vision was swimming._

_A vague sense of déjà vu washed over me. Hadn't this happened before? Weren't things supposed to turn out fine? But no, the ugly giant was getting closer, a malicious gleam in his eyes. I weakly tried to crawl away, but all of my strength had left me._

_As one of my father's greatest enemies raised his trident to run me through, I felt hopelessly abandoned. I tried to prepare my mind for a quick death, but of course, Polybotes wasn't humane. He slowly dug the deadly points of the weapon into my unguarded stomach, twisting it occasionally with a sadistic grin on his face. I screamed, and all went black._

I lay sweating on my bed in Cabin 3. My hands went to where Polybotes would have stabbed me. No blood, no holes. I sat up and pulled on jeans and a jacket over my night clothes. There was no way that I was going back to sleep after that. I peeked at the clock; it was almost six. I tucked Riptide into my pocket and decided to go for a jog, hoping that the cold winter air would clear my muddled mind.

When breakfast time came, I sat alone at the Poseidon table, munching groggily on cereal. The mess hall was almost empty. Many campers were with their families during the winter break; they probably needed it after all that had happened during this summer.

Annabeth and Piper were with their respective fathers. Hazel and Frank were at Camper Jupiter. Thalia was with the Hunters, and Nico seemed to be avoiding me. That left just me, Jason, Leo, and several new campers in the camp.

I held my head in my hands, replaying my dream. It had been accurate up to the part when Polybotes had slammed me. Then my mind had betrayed me and put a sick twist in reality. The gods had actually arrived in time after recovering from their schizophrenia, but…

I peered up at the other tables, and my eyes caught Jason's ice blue ones. He raised an eyebrow as if to say, Y_ou okay, bro?_ I gave him a short nod and looked away. I needed some support right now, but I didn't want to admit it. After I finished my cereal, I trudged towards the beach, feeling the worried gazes of my friends on my back.

To my extreme (and somewhat fake) astonishment, I spotted my father fishing in khaki shorts and a button up shirt. Sighing, I headed towards him.

He grinned at me. "Ah, my boy. It is good to see you."

"You're fishing in shorts in the middle of winter," I commented flatly.

Poseidon chuckled in amusement. "It seems I am. No matter; I won't be staying long. You look rather tired, Percy."

I snorted. "Is that really why you're here? To check how I'm feeling?" I asked incredulously.

"Why not? I'm allowed to care for my favorite son, aren't I?"

For some inexplicable reason, I felt myself getting angry. Maybe it was because of my dream, in which he never came. But whatever the reason was, I couldn't let go of a cold bitterness.

In my stony silence, he sighed. "Tell me, what happened in your dream?"

How'd he know what was bothering me? I looked at him weirdly but described the nightmare nonetheless. He appeared pained as I did. When I ended the brief tale, he actually surprised me by hugging me tightly. He really did care a lot…Knowing that, I couldn't stay mad.

Letting me go, he smiled at me sadly. "I am sorry you had to suffer through that. You know the later part was not true, though." He patted my back softly and said firmly, "I would never abandon you at a time a need."

Speechless, I just nodded. Poseidon smiled and ruffled my hair. "I realize I haven't visited lately. Hopefully that will change soon." With that, he disappeared into a sea breeze.

I glanced back at camp. That was a nice moment and all, and I definitely felt warmer, but something still needed to be done. It had hit me that while almost everyone (at the Greek camp, at least) had another home, Jason and Leo didn't. Their mortal families were gone, and I had sensed a lingering gloominess whenever the holiday cheer was brought up. As their friend and extended family, I wanted to banish that melancholy air. I didn't know where Jason was now, but I knew where Leo would be. I ran to Bunker 9.

Luckily for me, both of them were there when I came in. Leo was working on Festus, as usual. He wouldn't tell us why, but he seemed really devoted to fixing him up. Jason absently fiddled with random tools. All three of us stood awkwardly until Leo broke the silence.

"So Percy," he said glancing up for a second, "why aren't you spending time with your mom and stepdad?"

I shrugged. "I had my reasons."

As astute as ever, Jason noticed, "Had?"

"Yeah," I confirmed, "I decided I'm going home, and I'm planning to take you two with me."

Both of them whipped around and spoke in unison, "What?"

I sighed. "We should be with friends and family around this season, so I'm asking you guys to come."

Jason agreed first. "I'd like that," he said grinning. We turned to Leo, who hesitated.

"As great as this sounds, I need to finish up with Festus," he mumbled.

Jason put a hand on his shoulder. "Leo, you've been working nonstop for several months. Festus is almost done anyway, and this is a chance for you to take a break and freshen up!"

"Yeah, Leo. Working yourself to exhaustion isn't going to help with whatever you're going to do later," I put in.

Leo held up his hands in surrender. "Okay! Since you guys are ganging up on me…" He shook his head in mock exasperation, but we could clearly see a smile playing at his lips.

I patted both of their backs. "Go pack your stuff, then. I'll IM my mom and let her know we're coming." I stepped out, but Jason called me back. I poked my head back inside, and he regarded me thoughtfully.

"You were vague about answering Leo's question. Why didn't you go home in the first place?"

They looked at me expectantly, and I fidgeted uncertainly. "I haven't exactly been a happy camper lately. I had thought it would be better if I didn't ruin the mood for my mom and Paul."

Leo inspected him curiously as he put stuff away. "What changed? You seem more upbeat now."

I shrugged and laughed tiredly. "I had a talk with my father. We sorted some things out."

Jason gave me a knowing look. "Maybe you can tell us on the way to your house."

I nodded, having a feeling that they would understand. We'd grown close over the war, and I trusted them absolutely.

Leo stretched and skipped out of the bunker. "Let's go already! I can't wait to see what your room looks like," he said, a mischievous glint in his elfish eyes.

I smirked at my friends, putting my arms around their shoulders and leading them back towards camp. "Never mind that. Just wait 'till you taste my mom's food."

**What did you think? Cheesy? Boring? Heartwarming? I hope it's not the second one! I actually want to extend this from a one-shot to a short chapter story. Maybe I will if I get some inspiration and ideas...So please, let me know what you think!**


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